Stemming from Charlottesville, VA, a city with a relatively small population, but which sports a certain intensity that keeps making worldwide headlines, Pale Blue Dot are making a stand for unity.
As I write this, Charlottesville is the geographical source of a new presidential campaign for Joe Biden, launching with an anti-Trump message. Also, the discordant ripples from the 2017 Charlottesville protests still shiver through the air today.
As social division runs increasingly pungent in the air today, it is my hope that the unifying tone that Pale Blue Dot stand for in their single “Only Love” will make a larger socially-connecting impact from Charlottesville than any divisive messaging, marking a positive tilt in the scales of human consciousness.
Balancing a driving acoustic-rock groove among a horizon of optimistic atmosphere, Pale Blue Dot’s single “Only Love” teems with a unifying, positive message in its every detail: in its music, lyrics and production.
An immersive immaculate sound tweaked to perfection quickly becomes felt the moment the drums, bass and the acoustic guitars set the rhythmic drive, and soon afterward, the ambiance starts taking flight with the entrance of the Hammond M3 organ with a Leslie can, and Tony LaRocco’s vocals making an entrance, signifying the questioning of one’s current state and the need to push beyond it, and Pale Blue Dot masterfully drive the intensity to a joyful resolution in the song’s hook—“Only love, it’s only love”—the harmonious, universal message that love will cover all doubts, divisions and conflicts that can arise.
Pale Blue Dot display virtuosic proficiency in their feeling for space and intensity using minimal elements to achieve a flavorsome spirit of continuously building and rising fervor throughout: splashes of cymbals, freely singing saxophone lines and beams of clean electric guitar licks. Female vocalist, Yolonda Jones enters in the second verse pulling back from the settling satisfaction of the hook, spicing up the lyrical scenery with touches of what would happen if a social environment of love and unity were breached: where all it takes is one person to rupture the positive ties, and then the relationships will all shatter once again. And from this discernment surfaces once again the song’s resolve: “only love.”
One of the beautiful aspects about Pale Blue Dot’s “Only Love” is how the music itself mirrors its unifying message: such exquisite harmony becoming possible through all members focusing on complementing one another, entering into a mutual flow that envelops the music with an exuberant elated energy, no member appearing more or less important than another, but all come through as equally (and very) important, attentively listening to, and carefully adding to, each other.
Pale Blue Dot are intent on promoting a positive message of love and unity with their single “Only Love,” and their very own integrity support that message with a practical example of togetherness.
Pale Blue Dot’s latest album “Anatomy” is available now. Go to palebluedotband.com for more information on upcoming projects.
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